Of turkeys, family, friendship and gratitude
by Lilies of Paper
Summary: Thanksgiving at the Nelsons. Little bit of fluff to warm our hearts.


AN: I'm still not sure how many chapters this is going to be, but I'm guessing no more than 3... I will hopefully update by the weekend ;) I'd also like to thank _**Fran Fig**_ for the continuing support. Ily, Fran. Still waiting for our colab fic to take flight ;)

Foggy tried to go through some files in his office, but found it to be impossible, given his anxiety towards a certain subject he'd been thinking about for a while. He'd been preparing for Thanksgiving at the Nelsons for a few days now, listening to his mother on the phone everyday as she bragged about how many of their cousins would reunite at her house, and he couldn't stop wondering if Karen had anywhere to go, or anyone to share the date with. She hadn't talked much about her past since they'd met, but the little she gave away was indicative of some kind of turbulence. Especially family wise.

Every year since Foggy'd known Matt, the Nelsons had always been extremely welcoming and in some way considered him to be part of the family. Partially because they did love the boy, but mostly out of pity for the orphan kid. Nonetheless, the warmth of Foggy's loving family always seemed to cheer Matt up; even in his darkest days. Therefore, Foggy figured Karen probably wouldn't want to spend the holiday on her own, and the Nelsons were good people to hang out with.

He tried to go through the files, but couldn't stop trying to formulate the perfect invitation in his head. It shouldn't be too abrupt, but it'd also be weird to sound like he'd been thinking about it for hours (which he had). It also had to be an invitation she could decline if she wanted to. He invested some more thought into it and finally decided the best thing to do was to get this out of the way and just ask her spontaneously. He got up from his chair and casually walked to her desk.

"Hey, Karen. Matt and I are going to my parent's for Thanksgiving... Uh... You don't seem to have anywhere to go to, so we thought you might like to accompany us, maybe?" Foggy shrugged and rubbed his neck, still a little self conscious about it.

Karen opened a wide smile. "Aw! I'd love it, Foggy! That's so thoughtful. Thanks." Karen patted his arm.

"Yeah. I kinda figured spending the holiday alone wouldn't do you any good. And the Nelsons are a welcoming bunch. They'll love you."

"If they're anything like you, I'm sure I'm gonna love them back." She smiled.

"Great." Foggy smiled, raised his brows, and got back to his papers, even though his thoughts were still miles away.

"Foggy?" Karen called from his door.

"Yeah?"

"Uhm... I don't mean to gossip, but I can't stop wondering... I know why _I_ can't go to my parents for thanksgiving, but... why can't Matt?" She had a confused look on her face. "I mean... He never says anything about his life. I've always wondered about it, but never felt comfortable asking."

"Yeah. The man can keep a secret." Foggy shook his head, trying not to read much into that statement. He'd promised himself and Matt that he'd move forward. "Well, I don't know if I should be telling you, but ah, what the hell." He knew he'd eventually regret telling life stories that weren't his to share, but Karen was a good enough confidante, and he was sure her concerns were genuine. So he tried to balance both sides and stick to superficial information. "Guy's life is a tragedy, actually... Which might be the reason he's so closed off, if you think about it..."

"What do you mean?" She crossed her arms and moved closer.

"For starters... He ever tell you how he lost his sight?"

"He said something like a car accident when he was a kid."

"Huh. Car accident! That's some serious understatement." Foggy chuckled at his friend's constant attempt of hiding his heroic nature. "Well, actually... Matt pushed an old man out of the way of a truck to save the man's life. Turns out the truck was carrying some weird shit that ended up splashing on Matt's eyes..." He cringed at that thought.

"Oh, God."

"I know, right? Guy saves a life and that's the price he pays..."

"And what about his family?"

"Oh, yeah. His mother he never knew, and his father... Well, I guess Hell's Kitchen has always had evil creeping up the walls... A short while after Matt got blind, his dad was murdered."

"Oh, God." Karen moved one hand to her face. "I uh... I never imagined it. I don't know, I simply assumed he had some kind of bad relationship with his parents. Maybe I was just projecting, I don't know... But it makes sense now. That day, at the hospital, when you said you were the closest thing he had to a family... I guess I just didn't read into it."

"Yeah..." Foggy sighed. "I just... I really admire the man. He put up with some crazy shit in his life, and turned out to be this great guy."

"I love this thing between the two of you." Karen timidly sat on Foggy's desk, facing him. "Such a beautiful friendship." She smiled.

"And you're part of it now." He smiled back and shrugged.


End file.
